Boehner: BP ‘Should Be Held Responsible For Every Dime’
Appearing on This Week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said that he would support completely lifting the liability cap on the oil spill for BP. “Absolutely,” said Boehner. “They should be held responsible for every dime of this cost.”
Hoyer: GOP is ‘Holding Up Lifting The Cap In The Senate’
Also on This Week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) shot back at Boehner. “First of all, the Republicans have been holding up lifting the cap in the Senate from the $75 million, minuscule sum, as we see, to $10 billion,” said Hoyer, who also cast blame on the Bush administration for years of lax regulation: “The psychology of neglect in terms of regulatory oversight that was pursued in the Bush administration, which led to the banking failure, insurance prices going way up, and oil companies thinking they could do whatever they wanted because the “drill, baby, drill” crowd, all they wanted them to do was to drill.”
Axelrod: Obama Wants BP To Set Up Escrow Account
Appearing on Meet The Press, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod announced that the White House wants BP to set up an escrow account, which would pay out claims against the company over the oil spill. “Our, our mission here is to hold them accountable in, in every appropriate way, and that is what we’re going to do,” said Axelrod. “I, I’m not—I don’t consider them a, a, a partner, I don’t consider them—they’re not social friends, they’re not—I’m not looking to make judgments about their soul. I just want to make sure that they do what they’re required to do.”
Allen: More Oversight Needed in Spill Response And Claims
Appearing on Face The Nation, Adm. Thad Allen also discussed the administration’s plan for an independent authority oversee BP’s liability claims. “We’ve been very concerned about the claims process,” Allen said. “It’s not clear to us that there’s the right of transparency involved concerning the data, how long it takes to pay claims. We’ll be talking about an independent third party that can administer a fund to make sure it happens quicker.”
Crist: ‘We Need To Have Cleaner Fuel For Our People’
Appearing on Face The Nation, Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) said the country has to move away from offshore drilling and towards alternative energy sources. “If this spew in middle of the Gulf of Mexico doesn’t tell us we need to be more cautious and more careful about doing this in the future, I don’t know what else would,” Crist said. “I mean, we don’t have these rigs off the Florida coast. We are suffering from the one off the Louisiana coast. It troubles me greatly that that’s occurring. That’s why I think this is the greatest wake-up call ever that we need to go to alternative fuel. We need to have cleaner fuel for our people. That will create greater independence and stop sending so much money over to the Middle East.”
Fiorina: Boxer Hair Comments Were ‘Petty And Superficial’
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Senate nominee Carly Fiorina (R-CA) expressed her regret over her disparaging comments about Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxers hair, which were picked up on a hot microphone in a TV studio. “I regret this whole situation. I gave people the opportunity to talk about something petty and superficial. And this is a very serious election year about serious issues,” Fiorina said. “You know, what I think I owe the voters is a commitment to stay focused on facts, on issues and on the things that really matter, and I will keep that commitment to the voters.”
Alabama Gov. Riley Criticizes ‘Committee’ Approach To Spill
Appearing on State of the Union, Gov. Bob Riley (R-AL) criticized what he said was a lack of a single decision-making authority over response to the BP oil spill. “What we have is a committee. It’s a committee that essentially consists of all the different federal agencies sitting down here and as a committee each one has a veto over whatever policies we have,” said Riley. “You can’t continue to do that. We’re going to have one person who makes the call on what we do and where.”
Bill Gates Warns Of ‘More Crises Like The Oil Spill’
Appearing on This Week, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called for increased investment in energy research and innovation, citing the BP oil spill as evidence of why more development is needed. “The problem we’ll run into is that we’ll have more crises like the oil spill and we’ll have the supply disruption,” said Gates. “We’ll start to see more and more effects of the — the climate problem. The costs will go up because you’re looking for oil in harder and harder places. So you’ll just be paying more and more. And so it’s an implicit tax. If you don’t innovate, it’s this gigantic cost that we’ll be paying.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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